Amanda Biela, who is gearing up for a bid for the 15th House District seat, referred to an article in the Economist that called the property assessment system in Cook County an unfair scheme in a recent social media posting and said residents are speaking out about their high taxes.
"When I canvass door-to-door in my district, folks recognize that their property taxes are outrageous,” Biela wrote. “What they often don’t understand is why their property taxes are so high, and it’s because of the Madigan Democratic machine.”
In the post, Biela describes how Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, who is also the county Democratic Party chairman, allegedly overassessed property values so that homeowners needed to use property tax lawyers to appeal. She pointed out that House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) and others who are lawyers in property tax firms handling appeals may benefit.
“Our property taxes are artificially inflated, so folks like Madigan and Berrios can make money lowering them,” Biela wrote, estimating that property tax lawyers have made $133 million from property tax reductions between 2009 and 2015.
“One of the main reasons I am running is to put an end to self-serving policies hurting the people of this state,” Biela wrote. “If elected, I would push for a 1 percent hard cap on property taxes. This would end the Madigan-Berrios scheme in Cook County and also help stop the flow of people leaving this state by allowing them to afford their homes and restoring their home values. The people of Illinois deserve better.”
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